The Nature Of Jesus

by Micky Galloway

John 1:29-34, “On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who is become before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing in water. And John bare witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

John’s statements reflect divine interests in the redemption of man through the sacrifice of Jesus (Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 1:14). The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36). John provides the evidence that men may believe that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” and thereby have “life in his name” (John 20:30-31). The nature of Jesus is seen in both His deity and humanity in the opening chapters of the gospel of John. The divine and human attributes of Jesus remained unchanged, united in one person. Teachers among the Greeks were philosophers and idealists, while the Jews had their prophets and reformers. This basic difference divides the histories of the two peoples and presented problems for both. Paul said, “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom” (I Corinthians 1:22). So, to the Jews asking for signs and to Greeks seeking wisdom, Paul holds up the Christ on the cross as being God’s power and God’s wisdom (I Corinthians 1:22-24; 30-31).

Jesus’ nature is twofold: divine and human. He is Isaiah’s “child is born” and “son is given” (Isaiah 9:6a). His humanity is affirmed in “child is born,” or “made of woman” (Galatians 4:4). His deity is affirmed in “Son is given,” or “God sent forth his son” (Galatians 4:4).

Jesus’ divine nature required all the attributes of deity (cf. John 1:1-3). Jesus claimed to be God.

• To the Samaritan woman who said, “I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ),” Jesus responded, “I that speak unto thee am (he)” (John 4:25-26).
• John 5:17-18, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work. For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” The cross of Christ was not the only time they sought to kill Jesus.
• John 10:30-31, “I and the Father are one. The Jews took up stones again to stone him.” Certainly, the Jews understood His claims! They wanted to stone Jesus “because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:33b). In the flesh, Jesus said, “I am the son of God” (John 10:36). The Jews said, “… he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). The Jews understood what some today do not understand. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe Jesus was first created an angel and then became a god.

Either Jesus is who He claimed to be or He is a liar, an imposter and could not be a good man or a prophet. Jesus offered tangible proof for His claim of deity indwelling flesh, “Emmanuel … God with us,” (Matthew 1:23), and demonstrated it with the palsied man by both healing him and forgiving him of his sins (Luke 5:18-26). All attributes of deity dwelt in Jesus while on Earth. He manifested God to men (John 1:18; I Timothy 3:16). He stilled the winds and waves (Matthew 8:27; Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25), turned water to wine (John 2:1-11), healed the blind (John 9), cleansed lepers (Luke 17:11-19) and all diseases (Matthew 4:23), and raised the dead to life (John 11:43-44)! Mere man cannot do these things. Nicodemus acknowledged, “We know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2).

Jesus’ human nature requires all attributes of humanity. John says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

• Jesus was born of woman in Bethlehem of Judah (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-2, 16; cf. Genesis 3:15; Galatians 4:4).
• His body was of human flesh (Hebrews 10:5; II Corinthians 5:16; Hebrews 5:7).
• He experienced hunger (Matthew 4:2).
• He sweated (Luke 22:44).
• He thirsted (Psalms 69:21; John 19:28).
• He experienced exhaustion (John 4:6).
• He was “troubled” (John 12:27).
• His body died (John 19:33). He cried with a loud voice and said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost” (Luke 23:46). James says “the body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26).

John says, “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist …” (I John 4:3).

Indeed, “God was manifest in the flesh” (I Timothy 3:16). But some, like Philip, seem to be saying even yet, “Lord, show us the father, and it sufficeth us” (John 14:7-9), while others express their doubt that He was also human as we are, through inability to explain it or unwillingness to confess it.